Chapter 242: Ready to Enter Unlimited Blade Works?
From the moment the battle between Emiya and Sukuna began, Jogo had realized one thing: this was a fight in which it was utterly incapable of participating.
The cursed spirit, who had always prided itself on being a "strong one," finally encountered humans on this day who were several times more powerful than itself. The reason it hadn't appeared until now wasn't because it was waiting for a perfect moment, nor was it because it was weighing the pros and cons of fleeing.
It was simply because it had been struggling to heal the injuries Sukuna had inflicted upon it, only to be met with secondary damage from Emiya the moment it regained its mobility.
The blast radius of Excalibur was far too large. Even Jogo hadn't expected the beam to form a pillar of light and diffuse outward at the end; as a result, the spirit—unable to react in time—was once again successfully knocked down. Even the mere aftershocks of the light cannon forced Jogo to spend several minutes treating itself before it finally recovered its normal combat capacity.
Yet, even though more than half of its bodily injuries were thanks to Emiya, it still rushed forward without hesitation at this critical moment.
If you were to ask Jogo what the greatest humiliation of its life was, it would say without hesitation: being saved by a human. As a cursed spirit, this was something it could not tolerate no matter what. Therefore, it had to settle the score, all for the sake of erasing that shame.
Even if Jogo were to die, it could not pass away in gloom while carrying such a massive disgrace!
BOOM!!!
It was true that Jogo was a cursed spirit born from the concept of "volcanoes," but in the face of overwhelming absolute power, even the strongest adaptability was meaningless. Even if Sukuna's attack was a hasty measure used to stop Emiya from finishing his chant, it was still a bit much for a cursed spirit like Jogo—who did not specialize in defense—to block.
After the soaring flames subsided, Jogo was, without surprise, sent flying into the distance. It slammed heavily into the ground, its body covered in scorch marks.
No, to call them "scorch marks" was somewhat inaccurate, as more than half of its body had been completely carbonized under the high temperature, leaving only a fraction of its head barely recognizable in shape.
This injury was even more severe than when Emiya had cut off its entire head. Back then, Emiya had intentionally spared its life because its companions might have been nearby, and he himself had lost most of his combat power due to the backlash of his [Magic Circuits].
But Sukuna was clearly not a man who took responsibility for anything.
The consecutive battles had nearly exhausted the massive cursed energy Jogo received from all humanity. Even if cursed energy was still being channeled into its body, it was like a stream flowing into a parched desert—a drop in the bucket, utterly meaningless.
Having lost all its "family," Jogo itself seemed to have lost all will to live. It simply lay on the ground without struggling or calling for help. It merely lowered its single eye, looking toward its chest at a bead glowing with a faint light, nearly on the verge of shattering along with it.
That was Dagon—or rather... the Dagon whose impurities had been stripped away by Kenjaku, leaving only a fragment of technique information.
"I always thought we would die, but I didn't realize the day would come so soon, and that we would lose so completely...
When we are born again, we will no longer know each other. But I still sincerely hope to meet you all again one day.
Only then... will we truly be... human..."
Straining with all its remaining strength, Jogo said this only for itself, not for anyone else.
The cursed spirit named Jogo was indeed dead, but curses do not disappear. Human malice and the evil deeds they commit will likewise never vanish. One day in the future, when human malice toward "volcanoes," "oceans," and "forests"—and even toward each other—reaches a certain level, these cursed spirits will appear again in new forms.
At that time, they will have nothing to do with the current cursed spirits; they will simply share the same source. Their abilities and techniques might be similar, and they will share the same unchanging goal...
To completely exterminate all humans who brought all of this into being.
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"Tch. A mere cursed spirit actually dared to rush forward and tank that move?
But to not be directly incinerated into ash... a fellow of this level is quite rare."
Sukuna sighed slightly. He wasn't mourning the death of the other, but rather marveling at the fact that there were still beings in this era capable of arousing his interest.
The brothers of the [Cursed Womb: Death Paintings] could barely maintain consciousness in their state as cursed objects; Sukuna, who was infinitely stronger, naturally could as well. Throughout a thousand years, his consciousness had always remained clear, albeit imprisoned in a spiritual world where he couldn't even observe the outside.
However, at times, he would encounter a few high-quality vessels capable of barely housing one of his fingers, allowing Sukuna to briefly observe the outside world again. Whether it was humans, sorcerers, or cursed spirits, among the opponents he had encountered over the millennium, Jogo could be considered one of the noteworthy ones.
It was a pity. Normally, he might have had some interest in playing around with the fellow. But at a time like this...?
"It must be too late to stop it now, right?"No matter... use the technique you are most confident in to your heart's content. What of it!!!"
Despite the frequent complications and having suffered more than one blow, Sukuna remained confident. He was that kind of man—extremely egoistic and possessing extreme confidence in anything he set out to do.
If it was something he wanted to achieve, nothing could stop him, and there was no reason to fail. Even if he truly failed and needed to reflect on the reasons, that was something to be considered after the failure. To consider what happens after a loss before the loss has even occurred was, in his eyes, not prudence, but a sign of cowardice and the behavior of the weak.
...yet, my flame never ends.
Just as Sukuna predicted, Emiya was not shaken by Jogo's sudden sacrifice—at least not on the surface. He even used the moment the opponent intercepted the attack to finish another incantation.
That cursed spirit actually went so far as to do something contrary to its own philosophy just to settle the debt of the previous rescue... Emiya indeed hadn't anticipated that.
But regardless, a cursed spirit is a cursed spirit. No action can undo the crimes it previously committed. At most, Emiya would give it its due respect. Moreover, since it had already happened, hesitating would only waste a hard-won opportunity.
Therefore, the most important thing he had to do now was to do his absolute best to resolve the unquestionable enemy that was Sukuna.
"Are you ready to enter my [Unlimited Blade Works], Ryomen Sukuna?"
After casting a mocking glance at the nearby Sukuna, Emiya immediately spread his palm forward—
"My whole life was still——"
"——Unlimited Blade Works!!!"
As fast as light travels, that is how swiftly a [Reality Marble] expands. At the very moment the incantation was fully completed, there was no longer any possibility of escape for an enemy within the selected range, no matter how exaggerated or powerful their speed.
The way Emiya deployed his [Reality Marble] was somewhat similar to Satoru Gojo's, as what first expanded from beneath their feet was a blindingly bright white light—as if this highly exclusionary beam of light intended to swallow everything in the vicinity.
The slight difference was that Gojo's [Unlimited Void] expanded into an alien space where nothing existed, whereas Emiya's [Unlimited Blade Works] expanded into a desolate snowfield where no objects or boundaries could be seen.
As for exactly how dazzling that light was, Ryomen Sukuna, who witnessed it firsthand, was perhaps the best judge.
By virtue of his unparalleled recovery and mastery over his body, he naturally kept his eyes open throughout the expansion of the [Reality Marble]. Even so, by the time he regained his senses, he was already in another realm.
What felt foreign to him wasn't just the environment within Emiya's [Reality Marble], but more importantly, this ability and world that he could not comprehend.
"What is this place? The inside of some kind of Domain?
No, it doesn't look like it at all. I don't feel any form of cursed energy flow, nor do I see any familiar barrier styles... is it a type of technique I've never even seen before?
Unbelievable. Simply unheard of. I never thought I'd actually witness such a marvelous scene."
At this moment, Sukuna didn't feel any form of tension or fear; he was simply marveling at the form of the [Reality Marble] and the wondrous mystery of everything here being unknown to him.
In the world of Magecraft, the older a craft is, the more mystery (mana) it possesses. There is no such saying as "Magecraft will definitely continue to progress as time moves forward."
The fundamental reason this happens, aside from the "decline of the Age of Gods," is primarily that the inheritance of Magecraft relies on the "family" model. Families that can flourish more as time goes on are ultimately the minority; most families encounter decline after a period of prosperity.
From origin to prosperity, and from prosperity to decline—this process is almost entirely unavoidable for any group during its development. This doesn't have to do with any other logic than "extremes meet"; when a thing develops to the point where it can no longer advance, isn't the only state it can transition to a decline?
Though decline doesn't necessarily mean extinction—it could rise again after declining to a certain point and welcome a new era of prosperity—the process of development cannot be summarized simply by peaks and valleys.
Even if a family that once had hundreds of members during a prosperous era regained thousands of members after a period of being reduced to a few, what of it? During that period
of desolation, the Magecraft and knowledge inherited by the family would have suffered unavoidable loss. That is the thing that cannot be bypassed or recovered, and it is the reason Magecraft continuously moves toward a state of decline.
It's not that there aren't Magecrafts that have been passed down from ancient times to the present, or even magi who have survived from antiquity to the modern day...
But what of it? Those individuals cannot represent the state of the entire world of Magecraft.
By the same token, such drawbacks apply to the jujutsu world, which also uses family-style inheritance. The techniques developed in the jujutsu world up to the present day aren't necessarily more prosperous than the era a thousand years ago when Ryomen Sukuna was alive.
Therefore, to Ryomen Sukuna, who was proficient in various techniques, the skills mastered by modern sorcerers were simply laughable—it was like someone showing a math problem simplified from university level to middle school level to a PhD student.
Otherwise, why would his first emotion upon seeing Emiya's [Reality Marble] be curiosity? Even without factoring in actual combat power, and judging solely by knowledge and understanding of various techniques, Ryomen Sukuna in the modern day might still be the "strongest" one.
"This is a [Reality Marble], a grand Magecraft called the closest thing to True Magic. A subspecies of 'Marble Phantasm' (Imagine Realization), it is the product of materializing the world imagined in one's heart and eroding the reality of the world.
Because of this, the appearance of a [Reality Marble], much like a [Domain Expansion], is influenced by the user's will... and this desolate snowfield, filled with broken swords, is the world within my heart.
What do you think of it? Ryomen Sukuna."
After Emiya successfully released [Unlimited Blade Works], the situation—where the enemy was strong and he was weak, forcing him to avoid attacks as much as possible—had been completely overturned. It was just that Sukuna himself hadn't realized this problem yet.
The enhancement Emiya received within [Unlimited Blade Works] was not something a typical Domain could compare to.
While a [Reality Marble] does not possess the "sure-hit" effect attached to techniques like a Domain does, while inside it, Emiya does not just gain "World Correction" far exceeding a Domain—even his use of [Projection Magecraft] can discard all preparation time.
After all, most of the time, the [Projection Magecraft] Emiya used normally wasn't temporary projection, but rather extracting Noble Phantasms that had been projected in the past and stored within [Unlimited Blade Works]. "Trace on" was merely a mantra used to open the barrier.
With [Projection Magecraft] having lost any projection interval, the infinite blades within the entire [Unlimited Blade Works] could be taken and used by Emiya at any time. As long as he had sufficient magical energy, he could even have powerful Noble Phantasms take turns on the battlefield without any issue.
If Emiya wished, Ryomen Sukuna had already lost any possibility of engaging him in close-quarters combat.
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"[Reality Marble]...?
Are you saying this scene is actually a manifestation of the inner world, a type of barrier technique?"
After hearing Emiya's description, Sukuna stroked his chin with two hands while the other two arms were crossed over his chest, appearing to be in a state of deep thought.
"How interesting. I actually can't see any trace related to that. What kind of skill is this... isn't Magecraft supposed to be just a means used to deceive others?"
The concept of "Magecraft" (Magic) wasn't something that only appeared in the modern era; it was a concept that had gradually begun to sprout hundreds of years ago. Back then, after a brief awakening, Sukuna had once felt a slight interest in these things, but after he killed all of that magus's attendants and the man began to beg for mercy in tears, that deep interest immediately turned into disgust.
However, compared to those frauds who only knew how to swindle people, the Magecraft Emiya described was clearly not the same thing.
"You're right. The essence of Magecraft is indeed just a means of deceiving other things, shortening a process until it can be achieved with just a few incantations.
Since it is essentially a deception, why can't the object of that deception be infinitely expanded? Why not directly replace the world within your sight with your own inner image?"
Emiya exposed the essence of Magecraft in one sentence: deception.
As the eras continuously developed, things that were originally nearly impossible were gradually achieved by humans. Not only basic things like mastering the use of fire and the cure for various diseases, but even the ancient wish to step into the starry sky has been successfully achieved.
In the era when these things were merely legends and extravagant hopes, Magecraft capable of achieving those effects could still be called True Magic. But in the modern age where everything has a result, Magecraft can only be a craft used to deceive the world to directly achieve a result.
But even so, and even in the far future, the [Reality Marble] will always be the grand Magecraft closest to True Magic. This point was absolutely unquestionable.
"What? What was that? To actually have such an interesting saying—it's simply irresistible!"
Unexpectedly, Ryomen Sukuna happened to like that phrasing very much; an excited expression was written all over his face.
"Well, in that case, hurry up and show me your so-called world-deceiving Magecraft! I'd actually be afraid its power isn't as terrifying as you say!"
What good were unchanging things? Of course, a novel ability he had never seen before counted as interesting!
Wasn't the main reason Ryomen Sukuna had gradually fallen into this state of relying solely on raw power during combat because his technique simply couldn't produce anything interesting enough? If techniques were something that required knowledge to win, he would be an all-knowing, powerful sorcerer by now.
Being curious about novel things is human nature; no one can escape it.
"Is that so? Then it shall be as you wish... Sukuna!!!"
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